Temperature dependence of electrical and optical properties in Eu³⁺ doped Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-PbZrO₃-PbTiO₃ ferroelectric ceramics

As a new type of optoelectronic integration multifunctional material, rare earth doped lead-based ferroelectrics have great potential in sensing, detection and information transmission. In order to obtained multifunctional ferroelectric ceramics with high electrical properties, the ternary ferroelectric 0.38Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-xPbZrO₃-(0.62 − x)PbTiO₃ ceramics doped with rare earth Eu ions were sintered by traditional two-step niobate precursor method. Their electrical and optical properties were investigated. It was found that the ceramics exhibited good temperature stability and the morphotropic phase boundary is near x = 0.27, wherein the piezoelectric coefficient d₃₃ and dielectric constant ε_r reach the desirable values of 574 pC/N and 3740, respectively. Furthermore, the absolute intensity of ⁵D₀ – ⁷F₂ transition of Eu³⁺ in x = 0.27 ceramics varies with temperature, in which abnormities of the uplifted peaks contained the information of ceramic phase transition. This work provides a new direction for improving the performance of rare earth doped ferroelectrics and expanding their application range.